Desperate members of the public had to wait more than five minutes for their 999 calls to be answered in a Garda nerve centre, it has emerged.
Dublin Live has established that on one day earlier this month, almost 20 callers to the Garda’s Dublin Regional Control Room were waiting for more than two minutes for their call to be answered. This comes even though the force aims for eight out of 10 calls to be picked up in under 10 seconds.
One source said last night: “The situation is consistently atrocious.” And we have also established that civilian Garda workers in the centre – which operates 24 hours a day – have now appealed for their union to help them raise their concerns about staffing levels and workload at the multi-million euro site.
A worker says in a memo: “I would ask that Forsa raise these concerns with An Garda Siochana at the earliest opportunity.” Forsa represents public servants in the new centre, which was only officially opened last month.
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Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and then Justice Minister Simon Harris opened the site in the Heuston Station complex on May 5. But sources have told us civilian staff at the centre are now concerned about their workload.
One source told us: “Some days there are only two civilian call takers on the floor.” We have established that in a period spanning nine hours and 31 minutes on June 1, some 999 calls were answered after two minutes or more on almost 20 occasions.
We have confirmed details of an internal documentation that shows between 1.09am and 10.41am some 19 calls went unanswered for more than two minutes before they were picked up. One call rang for seven minutes and 19 seconds before a worker was free to answer it.
Another call went unanswered for six minutes and 15 seconds, while three rang for more than five minutes before a worker was free to take them. Four people waited for more than four minutes to have their calls answered.
That is despite gardai saying on their website that the force’s policy is to try to answer most calls within seconds. The Garda website says: “An Garda Siochana aim to answer 80% of 999 calls within seven seconds and deploy resources immediately giving an estimated time of arrival.
“We will take appropriate steps to deal with all incidents and ensure that emergency and life-threatening calls receive priority.” A Garda spokesman confirmed the problems on June 1 at the centre.
He said: “In any control room environment there will be occasions where this aim is not achievable, hence the 80% target.”
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